This competition even extended to their mansions, with both massive structures designed by Howard in a mix of the Greek Revival and Italianate styles.

Several owners purchased the home, each with aspirations to restore it, but none had the means in the lean years of the Great Depression and World War II to stop the onslaught of rapid decay.

This material, an inventory of the house's contents made on the death of Isayah E. Henry in 1908, and a drawing of the missing wing, are available on the website of the Library of Congress.

Photographer Clarence John Laughlin described Belle Grove in his work, Ghosts Along the Mississippi: When completed, its tremendous mass rose on huge brick foundation arches over twelve feet above the surrounding earth, its walls and mantels were plastered and carved by the most expert European craftsmen money could secure, its great flight of brick steps was covered with imported marble, its door knobs and keyhole guards were of silver, its pillars bore Corinthian capitals six feet high but of the utmost refinement.

Its theatrical magnificence would have delighted the Bibiena family - seventeenth century designers of the most elaborate and grandiose stage sets for kings.